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SAINT URSULA 

©t/ John ^uskin 


I 

THE STORY OF ST. URSULA 

II 

THE DREAM OF ST. URSULA 



3S(ew York 

THE DEVIN-ADAIR COMPANY 
1912 








4 X 4 70 0 


Copyright, 1912, by 
The Devin-Adair Company 


PREFACE 


Fors Clavigera !—to the ignorant a stumbling- 
stone, to the Philistines a laughing-stock, but 
to the Initiate a sweet remembrance of many 
a happy hour passed in informal chat with the 
3VIaster. 

The real T^uskin enthusiast has read every 
word of Fors, and reckons it not least among the 
precious treasures of the Master's pen . Put it 
remains a fact that to the vast majority of those 
who have heard of Fors Clavigera, it is but an 
excellent example of T^uskin’s eccentric seek - 
ing after curious titles ; and the beauties of 
these letters are as effectually buried as if they 
had appeared in a country journal . 

It is in the desire of rescuing one of the 

53 


choicest bits in all Fors that the present little 
booklet is offered to the clients of the u Celestial 
Lily” as ^Mother Church names the noble 
Martyr y St Ursula . Though 1 of course y a life 
of this royal maiden has an interest for me 
apart from its authorship by T^uskin. 

As one dedicated to the cause for which the 
little Princess and her u legions” lost their 
lives t as one tenderly devoted to her and as 
privileged to be sheltered beneath her protect¬ 
ing mantle y I look upon this story as one of 
the sweetest relics of the 11 Age of Faith ” It 
makes no difference to me y as it made none to 
John T^uskin (and thank God there are many 
like him) y what learned c Bollandists and others 
tell us of the legendary character of the Prin¬ 
cess of Over-sea . The essential thing y as 
T^uskin remarked y is that a great people chose 
so to represent their highest aspirations . It 


will remain eternally true y to use his words y 
that 11 we see the Saints better through a nim¬ 
bus of religious enthusiasm than a fog of con¬ 
temptuous rationalism 

To all who y like Ursula y love holy living 
and unselfish dedication to a noble cause y 
greeting — 

y ? 3 \( Ursuluj^b of New Orleans. 


71 





































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I 


THE STO<RY OF ST. URSULA 


THE STO^Y OF ST, URSULA 


The<RE was once a just and most Christian 
King of Fritain, called Maurus, To him and 
to his wife ©ana was born a little girl, the 
fairest creature that this earth ever saw. She 
came into the world wrapped in a hairy mantle, 
and all men wondered greatly what this might 
mean, Then the King gathered together his 
wise men to inquire of them, Eutthey could 
not make known the thing to him, for only God 
in Heaven knew how the rough robe signified 
that she should follow holiness and purity all 
her days, and the wisdom of St John the 
baptist. And because of the mantle, they 
called her Ursula, 1 Little © ear / 

Now Ursula grew day by day in grace and 
loveliness, and in such wisdom that all men 

"3 


marvelled . Yet should they not have mar¬ 
velled, since with God all things are possible . 
And when she was fifteen years old she was 
a light of all wisdom, and a glass of all beauty, 
and a fountain of Scripture and of sweet ways . 
Lovelier woman there was not alive . Her 
speech was so full of all delight that it seemed 
as though an angel of Paradise had taken hu¬ 
man flesh . And in all the kingdom no weighty 
thing was done without counsel of Ursula . 

So her fame was carried through the earth, 
and a King of England, a heathen of Over-sea, 
hearing, was taken with the love of her ♦ And 
he set all his heart on having her for wife to 
his son /Ether, and for daughter in his home ♦ 
So he sent a mighty and honourable embassy, 
of earls and marquesses, with goodly company 
of knights and ladies and philosophers ; bidding 
them, with all courtesy and discretion, pray 
King Maurus to give Ursula in marriage to 
/Ether. 


iiC But y " he said\ u if Maurus will not hear 
your gentle words 1 open to him all my hearty 
and tell him that I will ravage his land with 
fire y and slay his peopley and make himself 
die a cruel deathy and willy after y lead Ursula 
away with me. Give him but three days to 
answery for I am wasted with desire to finish 
the matter and hold Ursula in my ward. 11 

tBut when the ambassadors came to King 
MauruSy he would not have his daughter wed a 
heathen ; so t since prayers and gifts did not 
move him y they spoke out all the threats ♦ Now 
the land of Britain was little y and its soldiers 
feWy while the heathen was a mighty king and 
a conqueror ; so Maurus and his Queen and 
his councillorSy and all the people t were in 
sore distress. 

( But on the evening of the second day Ursula 
went into her chamber and shut close the doors t 
and before the image of the Father , who is very 
pitifuly prayed all night with tearSy telling how 


she had vowed in her heart to live a holy 
maiden all her days y having Christ alone for 
spouse . ©uf if His will were that she should 
wed the son of the heathen King y she prayed 
that wisdom might be given her to turn the 
hearts of all that people who knew not faith or 
holiness y and power to comfort her father and 
mother y and all the people of her fatherland . 

And when the clear light of dawn was in 
the air she fell asleep . And the Angel of the 
Lord appeared to her in a dream y saying y 
11 Ursula y your prayer is heard . At the sun¬ 
rising you shall go boldly before the ambas¬ 
sadors of the King of Over-sea y for the God 
of Heaven shall give you wisdom y and teach 
your tongue what it should speak ” 

ZJOhen it was day y Ursula rose to bless and 
glorify the name of God • She put on for cover¬ 
ing and for beauty an enwrought mantle like 
the starry sky y and was crowned with a coronet 
of gems, Then y straightway passing to her 

V* 


father's chamber t she told him what grace had 
been done to her that nighty and all that now 
was in her heart to answer to the ambassadors 
of Over-sea. So y though long he would not y 
she persuaded her father. 

Then MauruSy and his lords and councillors f 
and the ambassadors of the heathen King y 
were gathered in the Hall of Council And 
when Ursula entered the place where these 
lords werey one said to the other , “ZVho is this 
that comes from Paradise ?” For she moved in 
all noble gentleness y with eyes inclined to earthy 
learned and frank and fair y delightful above all 
women upon earth. Ttehind her came a hundred 
maidensy clothed in white silky fair and lovely. 
They shone brightly as the stars y but Ursula 
shone as the moon and the evening star. 

Now this was the answer Ursula made y 
which the King caused to be written 7 and sealed 
with the royal seal y and gave to the ambassa¬ 
dors of the King of the Over-sea ♦ 


11 1 will take” she said/ 1 for spouse 1 /Ether, 
the son of my lord, the King of Over-sea . Eat 
I ask of my lord three graces, and with heart and 
soul pray of him to grant them . 

11 The first grace I ask is this, that he and 
the Queen and their son t my spouse, be baptized 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Spirit 

u The second grace is that three years may 
be given me, before the bridal, in which to go to 
and fro upon the sea, that I may visit the bodies 
of the Saints in T^ome, and the blessed places 
of the Holy Land . 

11 Jdnd for the last grace, I ask that he choose 
ten fair maidens of his kingdom, and with each 
of these a thousand more, all of gentle blood, 
who shall come to me here in Eritain, and go 
with me in gladness upon the sea, following this 
my holy pilgrimage ♦ ” 

Then spake one of the nobles of the land to 
Maurus, saying, u My lord the King, this your 

116 


daughter is the Dove of (Peace come from Para¬ 
dise, the same that in the days of the flood 
brought to the /Irk of Noah the olive-branch of 
good news” And at the answer were the am¬ 
bassadors so full of joy that they well-nigh could 
not speak, and with praise and triumph, they 
went their way, and told their master all the 
sweet answer of Ursula . 

Then my lord the King said, 11 Praised and 
blessed be the name of our God Malcometto, 
who has given my soul for comfort that which 
it desired. Truly there is not a franker lady 
under the wheel of the sun ; and by the body 
of my mother I swear there is nothing she can 
ask that I will not freely give ♦ First of the 
maidens she desires shall be my daughter 
Florence Then all his lords rose, man by 
man, and gladly named each his child ♦ 

So the will of Ursula was done ; and that 
King, and all his folk, were baptized into the 
Holy Faith ♦ And /Ether, with the English 

n~\ 


maidens, in number above ten thousand, came 
to the land of‘Britain. 

Then Ursula chose her own four sisters, 
Habila and Julia and Victoria and Aurea, and 
a thousand daughters of her people, with certain 
holy bishops and great lords and grave council¬ 
lors, and an abbot of the order of St. Benedict, 
men full of all wisdom and friends of God. 

So all that company set sail in eleven ships, 
and passing this way and that upon the sea, 
rejoiced in it, and in this their maiden pilgrim - 
age. And those who dwelt by the shores of 
the sea came forth in multitudes to gaze upon 
them as they passed, and to each man it ap¬ 
peared a delightful vision. For the ships sailed 
in fair order, side by side, with sound of sweet 
psalms and murmur of the waters. And the 
maidens were clad, some in scarlet and some 
in pure samite, some in rich silk of Bamascus, 
some in cloth of gold, and some in the purple 
robe that is woven in Judea. Some wore 

C's 


crowns, others garlands of flowers. Upon the 
shoulder of each was the visible cross, in the 
hands of each a pilgrim 1 s staff by their sides 
were pilgrims 1 scrips, and each ship f s company 
sailed under the gonfalon of the Holy Cross . 
Ursula in the midst was like a ray of sunlight, 
and the Angel of the Lord was ever with them 
for guide . 

So in the holy time of Lent they came to 
5 ^ ome . And when my Lord the <Pope came 
forth, under the Castle of St Angelo, with 
great state, to greet them, seeing their blessed 
assembly, he put off the mantle of eter, and 
with many bishops, priests, and brothers, and 
certain cardinals, set himself to go with them 
on their blessed pilgrimage ♦ 

At length they came to the land of Slavonia, 
whose ruler was friend and liegeman to the 
Soldan of Babylon, Then the Lord of the 
Saracens sent straightway to the Soldan, telling 
what a mighty company had come to his land, 

'9l 


and how they were Christian folk * /Ind the 

Soldan gathered all his men of war , and with 
great rage the host of the heathen made against 
the company of Ursula ♦ 

And when they were nigh f the Soldan cried 
and said 1 U ZVhat folk are ye? iy And Ursula 
spake in answer , u ZVe are Christian folk ; our 
feet are turned to the blessed tomb of our Lord 
Jesus Christy for the saving of our souls y and 
that we may win grace to pass into eternal life y 
in the blessed (ParadiseA And the Soldan 
answeredy u Either deny your God y or I will 
slay you all with the sword ♦ So shall ye die 
a dolorous deathy and see your land no more ♦ ” 
And Ursula answeredy u Even so we desire to 
be sure witnesses for the name of God t de¬ 
claring and preaching the glory of His name ; 
because He has made heaven and earth and 
the sea by His ZJUord ; and afterward all living 
things ; and afterward has willed y Himself\ to 
die for our salvation and glory ♦ And who 

120 


follows Him shall go to rejoice in His Father- 
land and in His Kingdom ♦" 

Then she turned to her people: u My sisters 
and my brothers, in this place God has given 
us great grace . Embrace and make it sure, 
for our death in this place will be life perpetual, 
and joy and sweetness never-ending. And 
there, above, we shall be with the Majesty and 
the angels of ParadiseThen she called her 
spouse to comfort and teach him ♦ And he 
answered her with these words: u To me it 
appears three thousand years that death is 
a-coming, so much have I already tasted of the 
sweetness of Paradise. 11 

Then the Soldan gave commandment that 
they should all be slain with the sword . And 
so was it done ♦ 

Yet when he saw Ursula standing in the 
midst of all that slaughter, like the fairest stalk 
of corn in harvest, and how she was exceeding 
lovely, beyond the tongues of this earth to tell, 


he would have saved her alive y and taken her 
for wife . Put when she would not , and re¬ 
buked him f he was moved with anger . 7Vote> 
there was a bow in his hand , a/zc/ Ae set an 
arrow on the stringy and drew it with all his 
strengthy and it pierced the heart of the glorious 
maiden . So she went to God ♦ 

And one maiden only , whose name was 
Corbulay through fear hid herself in the ship . 

( But Gody who had chosen all that company 7 
gave her hearty and with the dawn of the next 
day she came forth willingly y and received the 
martyr's crown . 

Thus all were slain y and all are gone to 
Paradise y and sing the glad and sweet songs 
of (Paradise . 

XSOhosoever reads this holy history , let him 
not think it a great thing to say an Our Father 
and a Hail Mary for the soul of him who has 
written it 


II 

THE <DT(BAM OF ST. URSULA 

(CARPACCIO) 

JOHN CRUS KIN 


































THE ©9 ?BAM OF ST. URSULA 


In the year 1869, just before leaving Venice, I 
had been carefully looking at a picture by Victor 
Carpaccio f representing the dream of a young 
princess ♦ Carpaccio has taken much pains to 
explain to us, as far as he can, the kind of life 
she leads, by completely painting her little bed¬ 
room in the light of dawn, so that you can see 
everything in it . It is lighted by two doubly- 
arched windows, the arches being painted crim¬ 
son round their edges, and the capitals of the 
shafts that bear them, gilded . They are filled 
at the top with small round panes of glass; but 
beneath, are open to the blue morning sky, with 
a low lattice across them; and in the one at the 
back of the room are set two beautiful white 
Greek vases with a plant in each, one having 
25 -] 


rich dark and pointed green leaves, the other 
crimson flowers, but not of any species known 
to me, each at the end of a branch like a spray 
of heath. 

These flower-pots stand on a shelf which runs 
all round the room and beneath the window, at 
about the height of the elbow, and serves to put 
things on anywhere ; beneath it, down to the 
floor, the walls are covered with green cloth, 
but above are bare and white. The second win¬ 
dow is nearly opposite the bed, and in front of 
it is the princess 1 s reading-table, some two feet 
and a half square, covered by a red cloth with 
a white border and dainty fringe ; and beside 
it her seat, not at all like a reading-chair in Ox¬ 
ford, but a very small three-legged stool like a 
music-stool, covered with crimson cloth. On 
the table are a book, set up at a slope fittest for 
reading, and an hour-glass . Under the shelf 
near the table, so as to be easily reached by the 
outstretched arm, is a press full of books. The 

[26 


door of this has been left open, and the books, 
I am grieved to say, are rather in disorder, 
having been pulled about before the princess 
went to bed, and one left standing on its side ♦ 
Opposite this window, on the whitewall, is a 
small shrine or picture (/ can't see which, for 
it is in sharp retiring perspective), with a lamp 
before it, and a silver vessel hung from the lamp, 
looking like one for holding incense ♦ 

The bed is a broad four-poster, the posts being 
beautifully wrought golden or gilded rods, vari¬ 
ously wreathed and branched, carrying a canopy 
of warm red ♦ The princess's shield is at the 
head of it, and the feet are raised entirely above 
the floor of the room, on a dais which projects 
at the lower end so as to form a seat, on which 
the child has laid her crown ♦ Her little blue 
slippers lie at the side of the bed, her white dog 
beside them ; the coverlid is scarlet, the white 
sheet folded half way back over it ; the young 
girl lies straight, bending neither at waist nor 
272 


knee, the sheet rising and falling over her in a 
narrow unbroken wave, like the shape of the 
coverlid of the last sleep, when the turf scarcely 
rises ♦ She is some seventeen or eighteen years 
old, her head is turned towards us on the pillow, 
the cheek resting on her hand, as if she were 
thinking, yet utterly calm in sleep, and almost 
colourless . Her hair is tied with a narrow ri¬ 
band, and divided into two wreaths, which en¬ 
circle her head like a double crown ♦ The white 
nightgown hides the arm, raised on the pillow, 
down to the wrist ♦ 

At the door of the room an angel enters (the 
little dog, though lying awake, vigilant, takes no 
notice ). He is a very small angel ; his head 
just rises a little above the shelf round theroom, 
and would only reach as high as the princess's 
chin, if she were standing up ♦ He has soft grey 
wings, lustreless ; and his dress, of subdued 
blue, has violet sleeves, open above the elbow, 
and showing white sleeves below . He comes 

128 


in without haste f his body like a mortal one y 
casting shadow from the light through the door 
behindy his face perfectly quiet , a palm-branch 
in his right handy a scroll in his left ♦ 

So dreams the princessy with blessed eyes 
that need no earthly dawn ♦ It is very pretty 
of Carpaccio to make her dream out the angel's 
dress so particularly f and notice the slashed 
sleeves ; and to dream so little an angel—very 
nearly a doll angel—bringing her the branch 
of palm and message ♦ Put the lovely char¬ 
acteristic of all is the evident delight of her 
continual life ♦ ^oyal power over herselfy and 

happiness in her flowers y her books y her sleep¬ 
ing and wakingy her prayers y her dreams y her 
earthy her heaven ♦ 


“How do I know the princess is industrious ? tr 
Partly by the trim state of her room—by 
the hour-glass on the table r by the evident use 

*9 3 


of all the books she has (well bound, every one 
of them, in stoutest leather or velvety and with 
no dog 1 s-ears), but more distinctly from another 
picture of her f not asleep ♦ In that one a prince 
of England has sent to ask her in marriage ; 
and her father t little liking to part with her y 
sends for her to his room to ask her what she 
would do ♦ He sits, moody and sorrowful ; she, 
standing before him in a plain housewifely 
dress, talks quietly, going on with her needle¬ 
work all the time ♦ 

Jd workwoman, friends, she, no less than a 
princess ; and princess most in being so. In 
like manner is a picture by a Florentine, whose 
mind I would fain have you know somewhat, 
as well as Carpaccio's—Sandro Eotticelli ♦ 
The girl who is to be the wife of Moses, when 
he first sees her at the desert well, has fruit 
in her left hand, but a distaff in her right ♦ 

“To do good work, whether you live or die' 1 
—it is the entrance to all Princedoms ; and 

130 


if not done , the day will come 1 and that infal¬ 
libly f when you must labour for evil instead 
of good. 

Fo<rs Clavige^ra 


Sunnyside, Orpington, Kent, 1872 . 


JAN 8 1913 


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